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Messy Involvement by Pastor Chris

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Don’t forget

Deuteronomy 10:17-19– “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.18 He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing. 19 So you, too, must show love to foreigners, for you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt.

God shows special kindness to the orphan, and He expects His people to do the same.
We have received so much from God it should not be a problem or a stretch to show it to others, especially those in need.

But far too often it is.  We get so consumed and bogged down with the details of our lives that we fail to see what God is wanting and needing us to accomplish in the here and now.

As Pastor Dave said Sunday and in yesterday's devo, we have a responsiblility to help those with messy lives around us and to do what we can as individuals and a church to help them get "cleaned up".

Again, we all were messy at one time or another.  We all were slaves to sin.  But God plucked us from this mess and provided a way out.
 

Galatians 4:4-7– But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. 6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”  Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

We have been adopted into His family, and what a privilege it is.

Involvement

My parents became foster parents when I was growing up.  I was in high school when this began.  I wasn't sure what to think about kids, I didn't know, LIVING in our home.
I am glad they did.
We had many children pass through our home: Chris, Jeffy, Nicole, Manny, Michael.  

And then there was "Sarah".

Before Sarah came into our life, her dad had shot Sarah's mom and then himself.  All while Sarah and her baby sister were in the house.

Sarah was 2 years old.

To survive, she lived on dog food for about 2 weeks.
That is how long it took for people to notice these 4 people were missing. 
The baby did not survive.

That is messy.

How awesome that God placed Sarah in our home for a time.  A Christian home.  We were able to provide stability while arrangements were being made for her relatives to adopt her.  We loved her and cared for her like she was a member of our family.  She was one of us.  She is in our photo albums.
God "ensured" that Sarah would recieve Justice. Hope. Protection. A Future.

As a father of five, I am in awe of my parents for getting involved in these lives while they had five of their own children to raise.
They decided to get involved in “messy” lives and do what they could to help.  They were able to be a point of stability for these children as they awaited adoption.

Remember, as Pastor Dave reminds us: 
Every number has a name, every name has a story, and every story matters to God.

James 2:14-17– What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

What is so exciting is that God has called us to  this work!!
We have received so much from God it should not be a problem or a stretch to show it to others, especially those in need.
So what are we to do?

I encourage you to visit the Care Portal site that was mentioned in church last week.   
We have been adopted into His family, and what a privilege it is.  God did not forget us.  Therefore, we should not forget the orphan.

Let's get involved in the mess!!

 

 

The Least – by Pastor David

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Elevation – Here as in Heaven


There are four different groups of people in Scripture that the Bible repeatedly addresses as those to whom God is passionate about. The four groups are; **widows, orphans, the poor and the foreigner.** (Psalm 68:3-5, Psalm 10:17-18, Jeremiah 49:11, Deuteronomy 10:17-18)

These groups are highlighted over and over as to the ones that God defends, protects and watches over. In fact, He calls the Israelites to devote resources and compassion to each. (Psalm 82:3-4, Exodus 22:22-23) That theme is then repeated in the New Testament. (Matthew 7:12, James 1:27, Acts 20:35, Galatians 2:10)

With this as a backdrop, we need to fully understand that mere personal spirituality is not what God is fully looking for. We cannot simply rely on our own spirituality and think we are being fully pleasing to God and accomplish the mission He has for us.

Let me put it more bluntly. It’s easy to go to church, have personal devotions at home and live a pretty good life. But, that’s not what God has called us to. That is close to hypocritical and pharisaical. God has called us out of our comfort zones and into the world. _He calls us to action, not just words._

Today, something sparked within me that is reverberating in my spirit. I preached a message about the orphan and the messy lives of people and was hit directly with the mess. I encountered someone whose life was a mess — whose family situation was all but tragically torn apart. Kids were involved in the mess and those kids were experiencing the challenges of decisions they never made.

My thoughts began to formulate…are we as a church ready to help the messy? I hope we are. But honestly, I’m not sure.

I can say this, we have a small alms team that distributes finances and helps those whose lives are messy. I’ve watched the alms team closely for about 2 years. Without a doubt, they excel at helping the messy. But are we as a church ready to roll up our sleeves and go the distance. It’s a prayer I’m formulating and something I’m beginning to wrestle with God about.

I do know this, God is looking for us to not only love Him but to love others. And it doesn’t mean we just love with words, we must love with our actions.

What does it mean for you love others (the orphan, the widow, the foreigner, the poor) with actions, not just words?

Sermon Notes – What If The Church: Foster Care May 26, 2016

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What if the Church

  1. All Orphans Have a Father

 

Psalm 68:5-6 NLT

5 Father to the fatherless, defender of widows—

   this is God, whose dwelling is holy.

6 God places the lonely in families;

   he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.

 

God is the great protector and loving Father of all orphans.

 

NOTES:

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  1. All Orphans Deserve Justice:

 

Psalm 10:14 NLT

But you see the trouble and grief they cause.

   You take note of it and punish them.

The helpless put their trust in you.

   You defend the orphans.

 

Deuteronomy 10:17-18 NLT

17 “For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed. 18 He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice. He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing.

Justice is a fundamental part of God’s character.

Justice: Righting the wrongs that sin causes.

 

Deuteronomy 10:18 NLT

18 He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice.

 

NOTES:

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  1. The People of God Will Care for Orphans

Ephesians 1:5 NLT

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

 

 

I John 4:19 NLT
We love because he first loved us.

 

 

James 1:27 NLT

27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

 

God’s people are called to actively pursue meeting the needs of orphans.  

 

Proverbs 19:17 NLT

If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD–and he will repay you!

 

NOTES:

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Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing by Pastor Matt

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Song: Only Wanna Sing

Artist: Young & Free

Purity, but really…

1 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.” Mt 15:1-2

While they’re talking about purity, they’re not really talking about purity. For the Pharisees, the main thing was their tradition. On the surface, their traditions appeared to be focused on all the right things…like purity. In this case, the purity rite of ceremonially washing before they eat.

I’ll bet the Pharisees would have loved Ikea. There’s a perfectly crafted nook and cranny to meet every conceivable purity need.

They often get a bad rap (Pharisees…and Ikea). But sometimes I think the Pharisees give expression to that little part of me that I’d rather ignore. I mean, if I’m honest, I like traditions too. Especially those traditions that help me parse the difference between right and wrong, pure and impure. It’s just easier when everything has it’s place – even if the instructions are all pictures, no words!

Honoring Parents, but really…

3 Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? 4 For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’6 In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. 7 You hypocrites! … Mt 15:3-7

But Jesus pushes back. And he uses one of the Ten Commandments to make his point. Honor your parents.

While Jesus is talking about honoring parents, he’s not really talking about honoring parents. He’s talking about hypocrisy. About valuing tradition over command. About so emphasizing tradition that you miss the spirit of the command.

It’s about the Heart

And so he says,

16 “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked. 17 “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. 18 But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. 20 These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.” Mt 15:16-20

If only it were as simple as washing hands! But the heart is hard and messy work.

So, go ahead! Enjoy those delicious Ikea cinnamon rolls…but pay attention to your heart! Especially what’s flowing out of it.

Messy by Pastor Chris

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Matthew 18:10–“Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.

In this verse, Jesus is commanding us to not look down on “little ones.”  Little ones can be kids or those young in the faith.

The phrase “look down on” is translated in the ESV with the word “despise”.  That word seems to carry more weight.  I despise things like Pepsi, the Denver Broncos, bad coffee.

Despise is such a strong word.  The meaning is to actively insult, and to disregard.

We are not to look down our noses as those we deem to be less than us, kids included.

Kids.  Kids can be messy.  Kids can be difficult.  Kids can be expensive.

I’m thinking of a time recently where one of my boys accidentally fired a Nerf arrow and hit our TV.  And ruined it. My first thought was there is no way a Nerf arrow could do that.  My second was disbelief.  Later that day, my wife told my son how much more important he is than a TV.  Years from now, we will tell this story, and the TV would have been trashed by that time anyway.

And I might actually laugh about it.  Maybe.

Kids.

We can’t disregard children, but the other meaning and point Jesus is making is to not disregard young believers, and those who have wandered away from Jesus.

Doing this can be messy.  Doing this and helping others in this way can be difficult, and can use all of our resources.  But that is what discipleship is.  That is what we as followers of Christ are commanded in the Great Commission that we have heard so often.

What is so neat when we take on this challenge and this command is how it stretches and strengthens our relationship with Christ.  Helping others and obedience to God can do that to a person!!

Only a disciple can make a disciple.  A.W. Tozer

I’ve come to realize that we can stand to learn a lot from kids, and from those young in their relationship with Christ.

Kids have such a faith, and a trust that is untainted by the world.

They also are able to learn and believe God’s Word completely.

As we were leaving Hy Vee the other night, my youngest son, Caleb, noticed that the Powerball Jackpot was $300 million.  He mentioned that could change someone’s life.  He then went on to say what he would do if he won that money.  And the first thing out of his mouth was giving to the church. He asked how much that tithes would be?  When I told him $30 million dollars, he was blown away, and exclaimed how that would help a church!!!

Caleb has heard and knows about tithing.  Even with his imaginary money, he knew the first place to give was to church.

Childlike faith.  Childlike trust.  Childlike obedience.

We can all grow in those areas.  Many times the older we get, the more we get tainted by life, and we lose that ability.

Discipling and helping someone grow in their relationship with Christ can help you grow in these areas.

It doesn’t mean it’s always easy.

Think of the self-control which training children demands. Think of the examples that must be set. Think of the practical wisdom that must be imparted.

Think of the perseverance that is needed!!!

If we “despise them” we fail to observe or meet their individual needs.  We fail to see the areas they may need growth in.  We fail to go after the lost sheep.  We fail to disciple.  We fail to grow.

I don’t get upset when my children have odd questions or thoughts.  No need to overdo it when they fail, like my son and the TV.  I had a choice there.  But I know my son.  And I knew the best way to handle the situation because of that.  It truly was an accident.

That is what discipleship is.  We are helping and training young believers because we have gotten to know them.

As you go today, begin praying and asking God if there is someone you need to be reaching out to, someone who is young in the faith, or you know has wandered from the Truth they once followed.  And let’s not look down on them!!